COMMERCE CITY, CO – The future of Colorado Rapids’ home matches was thrown in disarray when it was revealed that a set of American football field goal posts had been permanently installed over the weekend at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park (Dick’s), which has served as the Rapids’ home pitch since 2007.
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE), which operates Dick’s and also owns the Rapids, is apparently putting together a proposal to host 2027’s Super Bowl LXI at Dick’s, and the installation of field goal posts is the first step in permanently configuring the facility for American football in the hope of impressing the National Football League (NFL) with its Super Bowl bid.
KSE’s apparent preference for American football venues came to international attention earlier in the week when it was revealed that KSE had built the Los Angeles area’s SoFi Stadium – the most expensive sports venue in the world – too narrowly to meet FIFA specifications to host the 2026 World Cup final, and was also unwilling to pay to reconfigure the stadium so that it could host that game – despite that final being anticipated to be the most-watched sporting event in world history.
When reached for comment, Enos “Stan” Kroenke – the American multi-billionaire who is founder and CEO of KSE – expressed incredulity that Dick’s had been built to be a “soccer-specific stadium,” and seemed to be unaware that he even owned any professional soccer teams, much less one that played at Dick’s. The only comment he was willing to make was that “we’ll get back to you on [questions relating to the Rapids and the future of their home field]” and that “Kroenke Sports & Entertainment is excited about the many plans we have for [American] football fans.”
A KSE spokesperson later reached out to the Nutmeg News to confirm that “Dick’s is now a [an American] football stadium” and that the Rapids’ final home match for the 2023 season against Real Salt Lake was being moved to a “wonderful facility” at Wheat Ridge High School in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. As to where the Rapids would be playing in future seasons, the KSE spokesperson said that “several exciting venues” were being explored, with the top candidates being the home pitches of the United Soccer League’s Colorado Switchbacks in Colorado Springs or Northern Colorado Hailstorm in Windsor. The spokesperson did clarify that those options would require the Rapids to “reconfigure its future home schedule around [those teams’] road schedule.”
In light of Kroenke’s apparent unawareness that he was the owner of any soccer teams, The Nutmeg News did a follow-up communication with Kroenke to alert him to the fact that he was also the owner of Arsenal FC, a team in the English Premier League. Kroenke’s response to The Nutmeg News was to inquire where that team played, and if he owned their stadium. Upon being told that Arsenal was a London-based team playing at the 60,000 seat Emirates stadium, owned by KSE, Kroenke commented “I heard [NFL Commissioner Roger] Goodell wants to do a Super Bowl in London; maybe we can redo that stadium [for American football] too.”